Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much funding was allocated to the Civil Service LGBT Plus Network in each of the last five years.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

I refer you to the response given by Minister Gould to PQ43014 in April of this year which asked what the cost to the public purse was of this employee network.

The Civil Service LGBT+ staff network is a volunteer collaborative group of Civil Service staff. The LGBT+ network does not hold a budget, but a department can choose to provide support where there is a business case to do so. We are not aware of any such financial support. There has been no cost to the public purse of the LGBT+ network since 2020. We do not hold any records prior to this date. The LGBT+ network was created in 2003.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the answer of 13 November 2025 to question 90762 on BBC: Royal Charters, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of perceived bias in the programme Question Time on the priorities of the new BBC Royal Charter.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The BBC is editorially and operationally independent from the Government and this is a crucial component of why people trust it. Under its Royal Charter, the BBC has a duty to deliver impartial and accurate news coverage and content, and the Government expects the BBC to uphold these standards.

It is then for Ofcom, as the independent regulator, to ensure the BBC is fulfilling its obligations to audiences, including on impartiality and accuracy, as outlined in the Charter.

The forthcoming Charter Review will provide an opportunity for the Government to consider a range of issues and to set the BBC up for success long into the future.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with (a) NHS England and (b) local authorities on coordinating social care for people with overlapping illnesses.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department is working with NHS England and the Local Government Association to co-develop a National Framework for Neighbourhood Health Plans. This framework will outline how the National Health Service, local authorities, and other partners should work together under the leadership of health and wellbeing boards to design neighbourhood health services for different population cohorts.

The Better Care Fund (BCF) is a framework for integrated care boards and local authorities to make joint plans and pool budgets for integrated health and care. From 2026/27, the BCF will be reformed to ensure consistent joint funding for services that are essential for integrated health and social care, especially for those with complex health and care needs.

People with the most complex needs may be eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC), an NHS-funded package of health and social care for individuals assessed as having a 'primary health need'. CHC guidance states that integrated care boards must consult with the local authority, as far as reasonably practicable, when assessing eligibility for CHC.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Child Poverty Strategy, published on 5 December 2025, what interim milestones will be used to track progress toward lifting 550,000 children out of poverty by the end of the Parliament.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, published alongside the Strategy, sets out how we will track progress and evaluate success as part of our ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability and continued learning.

We will use two complementary headline metrics, relative low income (after housing costs) and deep material poverty, as well as a comprehensive programme of analysis focusing on the drivers of child poverty and the impact of specific interventions.

The Monitoring and Evaluation framework set out that a baseline report will be published in Summer 2026, reflecting the further development of plans and updated findings from the latest poverty statistics publications, with annual reporting on progress thereafter.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the total reservoir storage capacity in England (a) is in 2025 and (b) was in (i) 2020 and (ii) 2015.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The total capacity of reservoirs for all purposes in England, as per the public register of large raised reservoirs of over 25,000m3, which is managed by the Environment Agency.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what support her Department will provide to smaller charities and volunteer-led organisations to help them comply with the Equality Act 2010 when applying single-sex provisions.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The EHRC has revised its Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations following the consultation and submitted it to the Minister for Women and Equalities.

The Code will provide guidance to duty bearers, including single-sex service providers, which would cover charities and volunteer-led organisations, on how to comply with their legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010.

The Government is considering the updated draft Code and, if the decision is taken to approve it, the Code will be laid before Parliament for a 40 day period.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of early language intervention on educational outcomes for deaf children.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

Every child deserves the best start in life, including those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Early language skills at age five strongly predict future academic success, and timely access to specialist support is critical.

From April 2026, funding for home learning environment and parenting support within Best Start Family Hubs will focus on evidence-based interventions for 3-4-year-olds, including Auditory Verbal Therapy, for children who are deaf or use hearing technology.

The department funds proven programmes like the Nuffield Early Language Intervention which improves oral language and literacy. Independent evaluation found children made four months’ additional progress, rising to seven months for those eligible for free school meals. Whilst not a substitute for specialist therapy, many children benefit from such interventions, including some deaf children. We have also updated the early years foundation stage profile handbook, ensuring children can use their preferred mode of communication, such as signing, across all early learning goals.

Alongside this, the Early Language Support for Every Child programme trials new approaches to identify and support speech, language, and communication needs, with evaluation due autumn 2026.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance has been issued to help civil servants distinguish between acceptable network activity and activity that may breach impartiality rules.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Staff Network Policy was launched on 23 September 2025 and is applicable to all cross-Civil Service Staff networks, from this date. Departments have been strongly encouraged to adopt or align to this policy for their own departmental networks. The policy establishes a consistent framework to ensure all staff networks operate effectively, in line with the Civil Service code.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions she has had with the brewing and pub sector on business rates affordability following the November Budget.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties (i.e. the tax base) remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base.

At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties as they recover from the pandemic. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government announced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including protection for ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.

More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto.

The Government is doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties, including those on the high street.

The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since Covid. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.

Treasury Ministers and officials engaged with a wide range of stakeholders across the pub and hospitality sector ahead of the Budget to discuss business rates.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what criteria will guide decisions on whether an overnight stay levy is “modest” and appropriate for local areas; and will there be a cap.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The precise design and scope of the power for Mayors to introduce a visitor levy is still under development.

Mayors will decide whether to introduce a levy and, if so, consult on specific proposals. We expect Mayors to engage constructively with businesses and their communities to hear their concerns. This will inform their decisions regarding whether and how a levy will be applied and how any revenue is spent. Giving this power to local leaders who best understand their region enables them to tailor it to growing their local economies

The Government has published a consultation running until 18 February 2026, so that the public, businesses, and local government can shape the design of the power to introduce a levy that will be devolved to local leaders. The consultation seeks views on whether there should be a cap on the rate.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that consumers are provided with sufficient information to make informed choices regarding the method of slaughter used in producing meat sold in UK supermarkets.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government expects industry to provide consumers with information on which to make an informed choice about their food. Any information provided on the method of slaughter must be accurate and not misleading to the consumer.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the level of use of virtual private networks since July 2025.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The government and Ofcom continue to monitor the use of VPNs since the Child Safety Duties commenced in July.

After these duties came into force, UK users of VPN apps temporarily doubled to around 1.5 million. Ofcom has since reported that VPN app usage dropped to around 900,000 by the end of November.

There remains limited evidence on how many children use VPNs and the government is working to address this gap. We will ensure any future interventions are proportionate and driven by the evidence.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff in her Department are permitted to undertake diversity-related network time during core working hours; and what proportion of overall working time are they permitted to spend on such network activity.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the prevalence of drug smuggling among illegal migrants who arrive in the UK via the Channel.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to questions 71052, 71053 and 71054 on 4^th September.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the potential impact of increasing the bus travel fare cap from £2 in July 2024 to £3 on the accessibility of services in Fylde constituency.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department is currently undertaking an evaluation of the £3 bus fare cap and its impacts. This will include analysis of bus usage. The evaluation will focus on understanding the national impacts of the scheme. The final monitoring and evaluation report into the impact of the £2 bus fare cap, including analysis on bus usage, was published on 12 February.

Trends in bus usage will continue to be monitored and reported through the Department’s national statistics which are published annually. The Department also publishes statistics on daily bus passenger journeys across local authorities in England outside London. This can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/developing-faster-indicators-of-transport-activity.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the number of polygamous marriages recognised for limited purposes under UK immigration or family law in the latest period for which data is available.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

All marriages conducted within the UK must be monogamous under the Marriage Act 1949 and related legislation.

In some countries, polygamous or polyandrous marriages are permitted under the law of the country in which the marriage took place. Under the UK’s Immigration Rules only one spouse from a polygamous marriage can be granted entry or permission to stay in the UK as a partner. Additional spouses are not eligible for partner routes.

No official data is collected on the number of polygamous marriages among applicants.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Better buses, more services: £3 billion boost for millions of passengers, published on 5 December 2025, what guidance is being issued to councils on balancing investment between fare reductions, new routes, zero-emission buses and improvements to bus stops.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

On 5 December, the Government confirmed investment of over £3 billion for the rest of the spending review period to support local leaders and bus operators across the country to improve bus services for millions of passengers.

This includes multi-year allocations for local authorities under the Local Authority Bus Grant (LABG) totalling nearly £700 million per year, ending the short-term approach to bus funding and giving councils the certainty they need to plan ahead. Local authorities will have the flexibility to use this funding to meet local needs, whether that be reducing fares, introducing new routes, investing in zero-emission buses or improving bus stops and stations.

LABG allocations have been calculated using a fair and transparent approach that considers population size, levels of deprivation, the extent of existing bus services and rurality. Further details on the funding formula have been published on GOV.UK at: Local Authority Bus Grant allocations - GOV.UK.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Better buses, more services: £3 billion boost for millions of passengers, published on 5 December 2025, what criteria were used to determine the Local Authority Bus Grant (LABG) allocations published alongside the £3 billion investment.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

On 5 December, the Government confirmed investment of over £3 billion for the rest of the spending review period to support local leaders and bus operators across the country to improve bus services for millions of passengers.

This includes multi-year allocations for local authorities under the Local Authority Bus Grant (LABG) totalling nearly £700 million per year, ending the short-term approach to bus funding and giving councils the certainty they need to plan ahead. Local authorities will have the flexibility to use this funding to meet local needs, whether that be reducing fares, introducing new routes, investing in zero-emission buses or improving bus stops and stations.

LABG allocations have been calculated using a fair and transparent approach that considers population size, levels of deprivation, the extent of existing bus services and rurality. Further details on the funding formula have been published on GOV.UK at: Local Authority Bus Grant allocations - GOV.UK.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the written answer of 9 December 25 to question 96953 on Child Benefit, how many of the 23,500 compliance enquiries (i) were confirmed to be eligible, (ii) were found to have been incorrectly receiving the benefit and (iii) are yet to receive an outcome.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC has now completed its review of Child Benefit compliance cases where a PAYE check had not been undertaken. As of 30 November 2025, out of the 23,794 cases opened between August and October 2025, 14,994 Child Benefit customers have been confirmed to be eligible to Child Benefit. Of the remaining 8,800 cases, 1,019, have been determined to have been incorrectly receiving Child Benefit, and 7,781 enquiries remain open as the customer has not yet provided evidence to enable a final determination of residency.

The data from the 23,794 cases is not comparable with the pilot. Recognising the issues with the implementation of the expansion, HMRC put in place an expediated process for customers that varied from the way it applied checks in the pilot. The information from the pilot remains HMRC’s best assessment of the effectiveness of the activity using international travel data to reduce error and fraud.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking with the NHS to end the practice of discharging mothers with newborn babies into B&Bs or other unsuitable accommodation.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is working closely with the National Health Service to end the practice of mothers with newborns being discharged to bed and breakfasts or other forms of unsuitable shared housing.

Our new Child Poverty Strategy was published 5 December 2025 and will end the unlawful placement of families in bed and breakfasts beyond the six-week limit. To support this, the Government is investing £8 million in Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots in 20 local authorities that have the highest use of bed and breakfasts for homeless families and is continuing the programme for the next three years.

We will work with local authorities, supported by robust NHS pathways, to make sure safe and appropriate alternatives are available and used. This includes identifying issues as early as possible to help ensure that the housing a new mother and their newborn will be discharged to meets their needs.

We are also working across the Government to support children in temporary accommodation. This includes introducing a clinical code for children in temporary accommodation, ensuring these families are proactively contacted by health services and ending the practice of discharging newborn babies into a bed and breakfast or other unsuitable shared accommodation.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of hospital admissions due to acute influenza across Lancashire; and how this compares to the same period last year.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Data on hospital admissions due to flu at a county level is not published. Between 25 November and 7 December 2025, there was a daily average of 346 adult general and acute beds occupied by flu patients in acute trusts in the North West. This was higher than over the same period last year when there was a daily average of 142 adult general and acute beds occupied by flu patients.

NHS England began publication of Winter Situation Reports, which includes flu-specific bed occupancy at a regional level, from 24 November 2025 and from 25 November in 2024. These figures are published in the NHS England Winter Situation Reports, which are available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/uec-sitrep/urgent-and-emergency-care-daily-situation-reports-2025-26/

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, whether the Crown Prosecution Service has issued any recent guidance on the prosecution of offences related to illegal polygamous marriages conducted within the UK.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

Bigamy is an offence contrary to section.57 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and is prosecuted as such. The CPS has not issued and has no plans to issue specific guidance.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the end of unlawful placements of families in Bed and Breakfast accommodation beyond six weeks.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Our National Plan to End Homelessness sets out how the Government will end the use of B&B accommodation for families except in emergencies by the end of this parliament. Our Plan sets out that every council will now be required to publish by Autumn next year, and regularly update, their action plan. These must include local targets that improve performance against each of the metrics relating to homelessness and rough sleeping in the Outcomes Framework for local government and set out council-level progress to end the unlawful use of B&B accommodation for families.

We are investing £950 million through the Local Authority Housing Fund to increase the supply of good quality temporary accommodation and to support resettlement. We will also deliver an Emergency Accommodation Reduction Programme with £30 million funding to tackle a wider range of poor practice – including B&B and unsuitable out-of-area placements.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefit claims in the last five years have involved individuals presenting as part of a polygamous household; and what the outcomes of those claims were.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Polygamous households are not recognised in Universal Credit. In claims where the claimant identifies as polygamous, the first spousal couple (the two partners who have been married longest) in the relationship could form a claim as a couple. However, all extant members of the relationship living in the household would need to make separate claims.

Benefits such as Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance and Housing Benefit do recognise a small number of polygamous marriages which took place in a jurisdiction where polygamy is permitted. This number is very small and declining. Since the Immigration Act 1988, it has not been possible for people polygamously married overseas to bring second wives to the UK through the spouse visa route.

As such, statistics are not held regarding numbers of claimants presenting as part of a polygamous household and would be disproportionate in cost to produce.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which level of local authority will be responsible for collecting the proposed tourist tax; and what estimate his Department has made of the administrative costs of implementing and collecting the tax.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The design and scope of the new visitor levy power is still under development. The government is consulting on whether local authorities or a national authority should be responsible for administering the Visitor Levy in England. The administrative costs of implementing and collecting any levies will depend on the decisions taken by Mayors, including whether they choose to bring forward a levy in their area. We are proposing that, should the levy be locally-administered, a small proportion of levy income be used to cover administrative costs, including staffing, systems and compliance activity.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Department has assessed the potential benefits of enabling GPs to issue automatic repeat prescriptions for patients on stable, long-term medication.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Responsibility for prescribing, including the issue of repeat prescribing and the duration of prescriptions, rests with the prescriber who has clinical responsibility for that particular aspect of a patient’s care.

Electronic repeat dispensing is already implemented in the National Health Service and allows prescribers to authorise and issue a batch of repeat prescriptions for up to 12 months with just one digital signature. Since April 2019, the GP Contract has stated that electronic repeat dispensing should be used for all patients for whom it is clinically appropriate.

Prescriptions for longer periods of time may be more appropriate and more convenient for some patients with stable long-term conditions. However, for some patients, issuing shorter prescriptions may be appropriate to give the prescriber the opportunity to review the patient’s medicines, which is important for some treatment courses that require greater scrutiny or monitoring to be managed appropriately.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the press notice of 15 December 2025 entitled Ofqual fines Pearson £2 million for rule breaches affecting thousands of students, how many students were affected by each of the three cases for which Ofqual fined Pearson, broken down by qualification and year.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Sir Ian Bauckham, to write to the hon. Member for Fylde directly, and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many families (i) in Fylde and (ii) across Lancashire are expected to receive the additional £736.06 per child in childcare support as a result of changes to universal credit rules.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The requested information is not readily available and to provide it would be at disproportionate cost.

The monthly statistics for the number of Children in households on Universal Credit in Great Britain by Parliamentary Constituency and Local Authority are published quarterly on Stat-Xplore(opens in a new tab).

Universal Credit statistics are available from August 2015 to August 2025 in the Households on Universal Credit(opens in a new tab) dataset.

Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance(opens in a new tab) on how to extract the information required. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide(opens in a new tab)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she expects to announce whether the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme will be renewed beyond 31 March 2026.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Future funding beyond March 2026 will be considered as we work through the output of the Spending Review and Departmental business planning process. An announcement will be made once this decision is finalised.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what engagement her Department has had with counterparts in Sri Lanka regarding Storm Ditwah.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 18 December in response to Question 99464.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children (i) in Fylde and (ii) across Lancashire are expected to benefit from the increased Early Years Pupil Premium.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

On the 15 December we announced the local authority funding rates for 2026/2027. From April 2026, the Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) will be increased by an additional 15% to £1.15 an hour, equivalent to up to £655 a year. Statistics at a parliamentary constituency level are not readily available, but in January 2025 there were 3,149 children in Lancashire who received EYPP. Figures for children in receipt of the early years pupil premium in Lancashire from 2018 to 2025 can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/dd3e2106-cef2-4e89-49e4-08de398c3998.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce transmission of influenza in Lancashire.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Our flu vaccination campaign started in September, and is helping to keep people out of hospital.

The UK Health Security Agency is also working closely with colleagues in NHS North West and local integrated care boards (ICBs). There continues to be sustained multi-agency communications and marketing across the localised area and work is ongoing to promote and amplify prevention measures. Work continues to encourage prevention through targeted communications using local data to both the public and stakeholders whilst work is ongoing, as in every winter season, to show trends locally to allow the local health family to act accordingly via shared data and intelligence.

The ICB has stepped up public messaging around getting the flu vaccine for eligible groups and the importance of choosing the right service. This has included promoting a bespoke winter campaign in the local area as well as press releases, social media, and broadcast interviews at a local and regional level.

Some local hospitals have made it mandatory for staff to wear a surgical mask in any areas with suspected or confirmed influenza patients, and those patients who are suspected as having influenza on triage may also be asked to wear a mask. Masks are also available to patients and relatives in waiting areas.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what measures will be put in place to prevent any widening of attainment gaps between students with differing levels of access to digital technology when on-screen assessments are introduced.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Ofqual is consulting on a controlled approach to any further adoption of on-screen assessment that protects standards, fairness and teachers’ ability to prepare students effectively. Under its proposals, most GCSEs, AS and A levels will continue to be assessed with pen and paper. Each exam board would be limited to introducing a maximum of two new on-screen specifications, but not in the most popular subjects.

It will be entirely optional for schools and colleges to offer on-screen assessments if they are confident in their ability to deliver them fairly. To support fairness, Ofqual is proposing that exam boards must offer separate specifications for paper-based and on-screen qualifications and maintain standards to ensure that it is no easier or harder to achieve a given grade, regardless of which specification is taken.

Students will not be permitted to use their own laptops for exams to prevent unfairness arising from differences in device quality or access. Ofqual has published an equality impact assessment alongside the consultation and will refine it following analysis of consultation responses.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December to Question 95479, on Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme: VAT, how many applications to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme in the last 12 months exceeded the new £25,000 cap.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Since 1 December 2024, the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme has received a total of 222 applications that exceeded a value of £25,000, with a combined requested value of £12,442,052. Of these, 162 claims totalling £8,793,024 were subsequently approved for payment. All approved claims relate to the 2024/25 financial year, before the new cap came into effect.

A total of 38 applications with a value in excess of £25k have been submitted since 1st April 2025. However, the value of grant award approved for payment against these claims was capped at £25k. I can confirm that since the annual cap of £25,000 per listed place of worship came into effect from 1 April 2025, no applicant has received funding above this £25,000 limit.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many small boat crossings have taken place in each of the last ten years, including 2025.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes daily statistics on detected small boat arrivals to the UK in the Small boat activity in the English Channel - GOV.UK(opens in a new tab) release.

More detailed published data on small boat arrivals to the UK are provided in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release(opens in a new tab)’, with the nationality, age grouping and sex of arrivals shown in table Irr_D01 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets(opens in a new tab)’, with the latest data up to the end of September 2025.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Resident Doctor strikes on the delivery of healthcare services in Lancashire.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has not made a formal assessment of the potential impact of resident doctor strikes on the delivery of healthcare services in Lancashire specifically.

The National Health Service makes every effort through rigorous contingency planning to minimise disruption as a result of industrial action and to mitigate its impact on patients and the public. During the industrial action by resident doctors from 14 to 19 November 2025, data published by NHS England showed that the NHS met its ambitious goal to maintain 95% of planned care, surpassing the 93% protected during action in July, while still maintaining critical services, including maternity services and urgent cancer care. All hospitals are asked to do a pre-assessment ahead of strike action.

To minimise the potential impact of the next round of resident doctor strike action, planned for 17 to 22 December, NHS England wrote to all trusts on 15 December asking them to prepare for planned industrial action. This includes conducting risk assessments and collecting data to estimate the impact on elective care. This letter is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/letter-industrial-action-by-bma-resident-doctors-17-22-december-2025/

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the inclusion of the book 'Pigeon English' in the English GCSE curriculum in England and Wales.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Schools have the autonomy to choose the specific books and resources they use within the framework of the national curriculum. The department defines the genres of literature that must be covered, but does not prescribe individual authors or texts, other than Shakespeare which must be taught. At GCSE level, exam boards set out a range of set texts in their specifications, and schools are free to select those they wish to teach.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that schools educate pupils about the Holocaust in a way that counters misinformation and denial; and what assessment she has made of the adequacy of curriculum guidance on that subject.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The Holocaust is the only historic event which is compulsory within the current national curriculum for history at key stage 3. The government has made a commitment that the Holocaust will remain a compulsory topic in the reformed national curriculum, which will also be required teaching in academy schools when it is implemented.

The government funds a set of programmes to support Holocaust teaching that provide high quality, rigorous education about the Holocaust and tackle misinformation, denial and distortion.

The department funds teachers’ professional development in this subject through University College London’s Centre for Holocaust Education, and the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Lessons from Auschwitz project gives students aged 16 to 18 the opportunity to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau.

In addition, the Supporting Holocaust Survivor Testimony in Teaching programme will support schools in using recorded Holocaust survivor testimony in their teaching. The programme will include resources on use of new technological innovations in this area to help teacher and student digital literacy, critical engagement with AI tools and recognition of AI-generated misinformation.

Schools can also access wider resources available to tackle Holocaust distortion, including through the Oak National Academy.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what guidance the Government provides to membership-based charities to ensure compliance with charity law where benefits are restricted to members.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

All charities in England and Wales must have wholly charitable purposes that are for the public benefit, in order to enjoy the advantages of charitable status. Unless the purpose is for the relief (and in some cases the prevention) of poverty, a charitable purpose cannot exist for the benefit of an organisation’s members only. The exception to this is if a sufficient section of the public can access those benefits by becoming members and the membership is a suitable way of carrying out the charity’s purpose for the public benefit.

The Charity Commission has published guidance which explains the public benefit requirement.

The honourable member may be aware that Membership-based Charity Organisations was debated on Wednesday 17th December in Westminster Hall.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the number of medical graduates who have been unable to secure training scheme posts in the last three years.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Upon entering the National Health Service after graduation, medical students enter a two-year period of foundation programme placements. The United Kingdom Foundation Programme Office has successfully allocated foundation programme places to all eligible applicants in each of the past three years. These total 10,634 applicants for the 2025 programme, 9,702 for the 2024 programme, and 8,655 in 2023.

Upon successful completion of the foundation programme most doctors choose to apply for speciality training programmes. Competition for speciality training posts has grown in recent years, in part due to the introduction of health and care visas in 2020, as well as the decision to remove the Resident Labour Market Test for doctors in 2020 which has meant that more international medical graduates are applying for speciality training places, increasing the number of candidates for roles.

The table below presents the number of specialist training program applicants and the number of available posts in England by round. The difference between these two numbers is not exactly the number of candidates unable to secure a position as some applicants may not meet the thresholds set for recruitment to specialty training and some may be offered a specialty training post but for a range of reasons do not take up that position.

Source: NHS England Medical Specialty Programme Applications Data.

Round one of the medical specialty application process includes applications to first year specialty training and core training programmes, often referred to as ST1 and CT1 respectively, and some ‘higher’ medical specialty training programmes, usually at year three, often referred to as ST3. Round two is for entry to most ‘higher’ medical specialty training programmes, ST3 or ST4. There will be a limited number of doctors who apply in a year to both rounds one and two.

The 10-Year Health Plan set out that 1,000 more specialty training places would be created over the next three years.

On 8 December, the Government put an offer in writing to the British Medical Association Resident Doctors Committee which would have put in place emergency legislation in the new year which would prioritise UK and Republic of Ireland medical graduates for foundation training, and prioritise UK and Republic of Ireland medical graduates and doctors who have worked in the NHS for a significant period of time for specialty training. This would have applied for current applicants for training posts starting in 2026, and every year after that.

The British Medical Association has rejected the Government's offer and the Government will consider its next steps.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps are being taken to ensure that modern foreign language qualifications are set and marked in line with Ofqual requirements and do not unfairly disadvantage particular groups of students.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Ofqual, the independent regulator of examinations and assessments in England, expects awarding organisations to manage risk in line with its General Conditions of Recognition, which are available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ofqual-handbook.

The matters raised are for Ofqual to answer. I have, therefore, asked its Chief Regulator, Sir Ian Bauckham, to write to the hon. Member for Fylde directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with Ofqual regarding the risk management processes used by awarding organisations when introducing new qualifications.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Ofqual, the independent regulator of examinations and assessments in England, expects awarding organisations to manage risk in line with its General Conditions of Recognition, which are available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ofqual-handbook.

The matters raised are for Ofqual to answer. I have, therefore, asked its Chief Regulator, Sir Ian Bauckham, to write to the hon. Member for Fylde directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the comparative operational performance of publicly owned rail operators versus privately owned rail operators since December 2024.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department for Transport holds all the operators that it funds to account for delivering performance for passengers. The Rail Minister meets regularly with the Managing Directors of train operators and their Network Rail counterparts to address poor performance and demand immediate action to raise standards.

The table below shows the most recent data on levels of reliability and punctuality for DfT funded services over the past year. This compares operators currently in public ownership and shows that reliability is higher for operators currently in public ownership under DfT Operator Ltd (DFTO) compared to private sector operators contracted by DfT.

“Time to 3 punctuality” refers to the proportion of trains calling at stations within three minutes of schedule.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what mechanisms exist for healthcare professionals to report poverty in people with terminal illnesses to the Department for Work and Pensions.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department for Work and Pensions does not ask healthcare professionals to report a patient’s poverty status.

The Government remains committed to providing a financial safety net for those who need it. Support is available through the welfare system to those who are unable to work, are on a low income, or have additional costs as a consequence of a long-term health condition or disability but who are not eligible to pensioner benefits because of their age

For those nearing the end of their life, the Government’s priority is to provide people with financial support quickly and compassionately. The main way this is applied is through the Special Rules for End of Life. These enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to certain benefits, without needing to attend a medical assessment or serve waiting periods, and in most cases, receive the highest rate of benefit.